Priority Number 1 - Offensive Line

[carpanfan96]

Get a late first round LT and give him 1 year experience at RT or Newton might get destroyed. 

 

Where the Panther's are picking there aren't going to be any OT with first round grades left, just 2nd and third tier options at OT and the top guys at OG are going to be on the board. 

 

So does the team reach for a guy with a second round grade that's likely never to be anything more then a RT that will likely have to sit for a season or two, or do they move up to draft a player capable of filling in from day one at RT or LT. 

 

More likely to see Marquise Lee sitting there at 28 then to see one of the first round graded OT's still on the board. 

[Evengelion]

What the hell team are you guys following? What's with this OL stuff! Every fan-base say the same thing. Every fan-base cry they need OL. We need a franchise WR on this team. Cam is not God, can't expect him to do everything himself. Every team have a franchise WR except us. I blame freaking Cam for this, overachieving and all. This is the same Donovan McNabb crap, throwing to some skinny dude named Pinkston(yes, Pinkston) his entire career. Meanwhile Tom, Payton, Brees all have either great TEs or WRs to just throw the ball up to. Enough of this OL stuff, we need pass catchers on this team.

 

It seems like the more mediocre the QB the more weapons they have(Dalton, Schaub, etc.). That's what annoys me about football, no one know yet how to maximize their extremely talented QBs. They just plain depend on them instead and run them to the ground until they have all kind of injury issues. That ain't right! How hard is it for a freaking organization to find a franchise WR for their franchise QB for 4 freaking drafts. OL OL OL OL! Enough of this OL stuff.

[Double Trouble]

If we could get a WR round 1 and David Yankey rd 2 I would be happy.  It's hard to say whats best to do, I say this scenario and I start to think of another year of Melvin White, Josh Thomas, etc...but if you neglect WR... then its very ugly. and then if you neglect G/T its another year of our running backs getting hit before they can even get to the line of scrimmage.  

 

If Gross comes back I think we can wait till the 3rd and hopefully a guy likes Moses falls or snag Henderson. Its just too painful to think of another year ahead with our corners and lack of a playmaker at WR. If we are planning on getting Tillman or Nicks that would definitely change my approach to the draft though, O-line immediately would be a choice of mine for our first or 2nd pick.

[Panthers8969]

What no one seems to get is that this years draft has some of the best wrs in a while. If the talent was in par wth last years I'd be all for 2 OT in the first two rounds. I just think we could get the same quality OTs next year in the draft and that isn't the case for wr. Would you rather have a good oline this year and a bad wr corps and then next year upgrade to a good wr corps or a great receiver corps this year and a good oline(provided gross stays and no injuries) and then next year have both areas be great?

[Evengelion]

So just recently as yesterday Pro Football Focus released their 2013 Offensive line rankings and the Panthers were rated as the 8th best in the league. Now they do mention that upgrades could be made on the right side but overall they give praise to the Panther Offensive line performance.

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/13/2013-offensive-line-rankings/4/

 

They are not the only one's that seem to think highly of them. Many analysts (and ones I respect such as Greg Cosell) have also given praise to the O-line throughout much of the year. This won't go over well with some but one thing that is mentioned is that Cam is holding on to the ball too long even when receivers are getting separation and are open. They also mention that he has to improve when it comes to "throwing open" his receivers. They aren't saying this in a negative Cam bashing way, but just giving assesment of what they see when breaking down film. They of course point out his abilty to extend plays with his legs and overall strength when protection breaks down.    

 

I am not a big football stat geek and especially not when it comes to offensive line but it's odd when many people seem to have such a negative view of the o-line while the very few "experts" I take seriously that spend all their time breaking down film tend to see other issues (not just Cam) with the offense  that are not O-line related.  

 

I don't pay close attention to O-line play and really don't have on opinion on the subject but I just thought I would throw that out there because I have heard so many others praising the O-line for overachieving in many ways throughout the year.

When I watch the OL Cam have enough time to find the open guy, plus Cam's mobility supplement their performance. But be weary of people overpraising the OL because they use that tactic to undermine the ability of certain QB they don't like. For example, to praise Luck they'd say he has no OL and he's doing everything by himself. But when you watch the Colts play that is further from the truth. I just think the franchise WR experiment is something this team need to try. It's about damn time!

 

[JawnyBlaze]

The way I see it we need one new starter on the Oline: RT. I believe Gross will be back, Silatolu will be back and hopefully Whatton has enough left in the tank for one more year. If not, maybe Kugbila will develop. If not, we should target a RG in FA. Guards aren't a high dollar position and we should be able to get a decent one on the cheap. Go RT with our 2nd or 3rd and we're set.

[raleigh-panther]

From the Presser DG had today it screams out Hogmollies ...

Yes but there are hog mollies and there are hog mollies...it depends on who is on the board when they draft

DG is too smart to reach for need alone. He will reach for the highest rated player on the board by position

Compare the fifth ranked / graded lineman available to a second rated receiver or corner

Who do u think he will pick?

[Evengelion]

Fact: This is probably the only team who doesn't have a franchise caliber player other than the QB on offense.

Franchise LT: not!

Franchise RB: not!

Franchise WR: not!

Other than QB, those are the building block of any franchise. It's hard to have consistency if you don't have those.

 

Heck, not even a promising young player. Who the hell have we been drafting the last 3-4 year? After this 12-4 record we'll probably have a target on our back and teams will start taking advantage of this patchwork of skill players we have. Which is exactly what happened against great team like the 9ers. We surprise them the first game but they made adjustments and took advantage of their better skill players. An exra .5 of a second for Lafell to get open is not going to help much.

[Mr. Scot]

Fact: This is probably the only team who doesn't have a franchise caliber player other than the QB on offense.

Franchise LT: not!

Franchise RB: not!

Franchise WR: not!

Other than QB, those are the building block of any franchise. It's hard to have consistency if you don't have those.

 

Heck, not even a promising young player. Who the hell have we been drafting the last 3-4 year? After this 12-4 record we'll probably have a target on our back and teams will start taking advantage of this patchwork of skill players we have. Which is exactly what happened against great team like the 9ers. We surprise them the first game but they made adjustments and took advantage of their better skill players. An exra .5 of a second for Lafell to get open is not going to help much.

 

You do realize we had a different GM before this year, right?

 

(I'm guessing...not)

 

[Evengelion]

You do realize we had a different GM before this year, right?

 

(I'm guessing...not)

 

What's your point? I'm commenting on the condition of the team not the performance of its GMs.

[General_Purr]

Wharton is an all pro guard....

 

 

 

Keep him.

Low cap damage. He is a beast. One of the best most underrated in the game. Keep him one more year.  Your silly if you think he sucks after all he has done for this team....

 

 

 

 

 

LOL

[Mr. Scot]

What's your point? I'm commenting on the condition of the team not the performance of its GMs.

 

The condition of the team isn't affected by the performance of its GM?

[jayflip]

A 35 Year old Steve Smith and WR group of FA loafers (Lafell), castoffs (Ginn) and role players (Hixon) make up our WR.

Having Cam Newton with his athletic ability makes up for the statue that is Byron Bell and whatever player gets converted to play RG.

However, Cam buying time in the pocket means nothing if he looks down the field and the loafers are running with the defense instead of away from them.

Cam is our supercar. GM needs to stop feeding our Bugatti unleaded 87 fuel.

A statue could actually block someone.

[Gabeking]

So just recently as yesterday Pro Football Focus released their 2013 Offensive line rankings and the Panthers were rated as the 8th best in the league. Now they do mention that upgrades could be made on the right side but overall they give praise to the Panther Offensive line performance.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/13/2013-offensive-line-rankings/4/

They are not the only one's that seem to think highly of them. Many analysts (and ones I respect such as Greg Cosell) have also given praise to the O-line throughout much of the year. This won't go over well with some but one thing that is mentioned is that Cam is holding on to the ball too long even when receivers are getting separation and are open. They also mention that he has to improve when it comes to "throwing open" his receivers. They aren't saying this in a negative Cam bashing way, but just giving assesment of what they see when breaking down film. They of course point out his abilty to extend plays with his legs and overall strength when protection breaks down.

I am not a big football stat geek and especially not when it comes to offensive line but it's odd when many people seem to have such a negative view of the o-line while the very few "experts" I take seriously that spend all their time breaking down film tend to see other issues (not just Cam) with the offense that are not O-line related.

I don't pay close attention to O-line play and really don't have on opinion on the subject but I just thought I would throw that out there because I have heard so many others praising the O-line for overachieving in many ways throughout the year.

It's really just the right side that needs help, and hey maybe Kugbila shows us something you never know. And picking an OT high in the draft could be somewhat of a necessity depending on the Gross situation.

Also fug you and your fantasy team.